Bandits kill eight people, steal over 300 cattle and goats in Samburu

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Tension is high in Samburu County after suspected bandits raided Lolmolog and Morijo villages, killing eight people.

The attack, the second in less than a day, occurred on Saturday evening following another that left two people dead in Lolmolog village in Suguta Valley on Friday.

During the Lolmolog assault, three suspected bandits were shot dead, and 200 cattle were recovered.

The bandits managed to drive off 150 cattle. In Morijo, they stole 200 goats.

The attacks prompted reactions from local leaders, led by Governor Lati Lelelit, who accused security personnel at a nearby camp of failing to protect the area.

The governor, who visited the affected families in Lolmolog on Saturday, questioned how the bandits managed to bypass the camp, enter the village, and carry out the attacks.

"How did the attackers pass through the camp undetected and stage the twin attacks on the villages?" He asked. The governor called for urgent deployment of security personnel to Malaso Valley, Leparmarai, and Chotorar, which he described as notorious bandit hideouts.

"We have information that the bandits are hiding in those areas. We want GSU deployed there to deal with them," he said.

Joseph Lengopito, a resident, called on the Ministry of the Interior to deploy more police officers to prevent further attacks.

"Give us National Police Reservists; if we had visited the villages, the attackers could not have killed our people and stolen livestock," he stated.

He linked the attacks to the ongoing drought, which has forced herders to move long distances with their livestock in search of water and pasture, increasing their vulnerability to attacks.

"Our livestock could not have been stolen; it is drought in this area that has forced herders to move long distances looking for water and pasture, and that is where the bandits are taking advantage to attack us," he explained.

Elijah Lolkingeti, a National Police Reservist, said he lost a relative in the attack.

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Lolmolog Assistant Chief Philip Lodumgokiok urged the Interior Cabinet Secretary, Kipchumba Murkomen, to arm the newly recruited police reservists.

He also called on the county and national governments to improve the roads in the area, which hinder security personnel's efforts to pursue the bandits.